2011 Men Knitters Visionary Retreat--Invitation to Apply

Tue, 2010-11-02 08:51 — KnitteryNinja

Cat Bordhi has been doing week-long retreats for several years wherein she teaches about self-publishing in the knitting industry. She calls these “Visionary Retreats.” which focus on helping aspiring knit designers “happily and successfully marry the mechanics of self-publishing with the magic of knit design and creativity.” These retreats include morning sessions in which Cat teaches everything she knows about writing, book designing, illustrating (and how to delegate these skill-based tasks), self-publishing, distributing, and marketing. Afternoons and two full days are filled with 2-hour participant sessions wherein a person shares his book idea, and everybody participates in exploring and developing it, giving suggestions, raising questions, etc. As Cat says, “There is a synergy that arises, as you can imagine, from the broth that becomes richer each time someone spills their book ideas into the soup pot and we all offer them insight and questions and inspiration as potential readers.”

As a way to promote men in the knitting industry, Cat and I planned the first male-only Men’s Visionary Retreat last Spring, and had ten participants who explored various book ideas. It was amazingly rich in creative process and specific feedback. Two projects from that group are now published or scheduled for publication early in 2011. The 2011 retreat (being held February 20-26, 2011 will include some returnees from the 2010 retreat, and new participants. Participants are selected through an application process. If you are interested in applying, please email me immediately to receive an official invitation to apply (which describes the retreat), the list of topics covered by Cat, and the application itself. The latter consists of four reflective questions, answers to which cannot exceed 2 pages total. When you contact me, include an email address to which I can attach documents to you (not possible on Ravelry).

I hope some of you have some design and book ideas you want to pursue and will get in contact with me!